International Space Station through the scope - 11th Sep

[iceman]

Hi all

It's been about 9 months since I was last able to capture an image of the ISS through the scope - the weather and timing have meant I just haven't had an opportunity until last night.

It was a nice overhead pass, mag -2.1, but due to trees I could only capture it once it passed overhead until it started setting.

11/09/2008 08:09 UT
Central Coast, NSW Australia
12” dob + 2x barlow + DMK21AU04, 60fps, 1/1250s exposure
Manually tracked using finderscope.

Thanks for looking.

[Omaroo]

Pretty good effort Mike :)

[Matty P]

Awesome capture Mike. Very well done. :thumbsup:

I've been wanting to image the ISS again but just haven't had the time to.

Thanks for sharing. :)

[sheeny]

Awesome, Mike!:thumbsup:

I missed it:doh:... never mind I was busy working into the dark pouring my pier footing (before the rain arrives today...)

Al.

[Peter Ward]

Having tried a few times use a PME to actually track the ISS, I've come to the conclusion this is no trivial or easy task to completely nail.

Well done indeed!

[RB]

That's a fantastic anim Mike and great still captures !!

Excellent work indeed.

:cheers:

[h0ughy]

OH accolades from heaven :bowdown::bowdown:- how awesome is that :party::party: :jawdrop:- Farrrrrr out man look at the detail:camera::camera:............. ................................Mik e you da man:prey2::prey2:!!!!!!!!!!!

[cookie8]

Fantastic! Best I've ever seen in this forum!!!
Mike,I tried to do the same on the 9th with my 900nc and manually track using Telred. I only got about 10 frames with ISS in it but they are all blurred. What went wrong? Should I use shortest shutter speed next time or the 900nc is just not up to the task? Max frame rate is 15 or can I increase it?:(:screwy:

[iceman]

Thanks guys, it's such a balancing act between exposure and freezing the shutter. I could use a faster shutter if I took the 2x barlow out of the equation, and probably get more frames with the ISS in it as well, but I want the image scale too! :)

Vincent, you need to use the fastest framerate you can, with a fast shutter. I was using 60fps and 1/1250s exposure. The 900nc is definitely capable. Keep trying! Go to 30fps and use 1/1000s exposure or faster to stop the blurring.

[Ric]

Great images of a fascinating target Mike.

The animation is a beauty as well.

[Dennis]

Hey Mike

That is really cool. The individual frames and the animation are just fantastic. I really enjoy looking at these types of captures. I suspect a lot of hard work went into the guiding, post capture processing and sorting of the keeper frames – top job!

Cheers

Dennis

PS - I concur with H0ughy's creative use of icons!

[beren]

:thumbsup: Excellent Mike well done

[matt]

Well done, Mike.

I have yet to capture the IIS and as Dennis points out...there's quite a bit involved. Good stuff:thumbsup:

[iceman]

I was lucky enough to have the moon visible in the hour before hand to allow me to get the DMK focussed. Being early in the evening (6:09pm) there weren't many stars visible. I was able to use Jupiter afterwards to try and align my finderscope accurately.

Though my finderscope isn't focused on infinity and I can't seem to find how to fix that :(

[RB]

I assume it doesn't have a diopter adjustment?

[matt]

Can you post a pic of your finderscope?

A lot of them focus by rotating the front lens housing.

[StephenM]

Great work Mike!!!

[Phil]

Great stuff Mike well done.
Phil

[Chrissyo]

Awesome shots! :D :thumbsup:

Gotta love the ISS, it makes for such a fun target!

[Quark]

Exceptional effort Mike,

Being able to find something early enough to focus on would have been a great help, but to track by hand with a finder at about 5X and get frames of the ISS at, probably about 800X, requires an exceptionally steady hand, well done indeed.

Regards
Trevor

[cookie8]

Mike, what kind of finderscope did you use? A straight thru or right angle? Is it illuminated? 6X? 8X?:screwy:

[iceman]

It's the standard 9x50 RA finder. Makes it a bit easier trying to track the ISS with the RA, rather than a straight through.

Though being out of focus made it quite difficult. Also depending on the position of your eye, you can think you've positioned it on the crosshairs but it could be way off.

Last night, Jacob was watching the laptop screen and would shout out when he saw something fly across it. So I knew I had *some* frames :)

Ideally I want to hook a ToUcam up to a spare 6x30 finderscope and use that to more accurately track the ISS.

[Deeno]

Superb!!!!

[Lester]

Well done Mike.

[bluescope]

Very good images of a fast moving little sucker Mike !

:thumbsup:

[Garyh]

That`s a excellent capture Mike! Well done indeed!!!
Did you use a dob base or did you use your GEM?
cheers Gary

[iceman]

Thanks again guys.

Gary I used my dob base. The GEM could probably be used with clutches off, but not with the finderscope 2m off the ground :) The dob alt/az is perfect for it - just trying to keep the movement smooth and the bright spot in the middle of the crosshairs is the hard part!

[acropolite]

Top Job Mike, as we've come to expect. :thumbsup:

[Bassnut]

Fantastic Mike, amazing detail :bowdown::thumbsup:

[spearo]

awesome!
frank

[kinetic]

No trivial task indeed.

Well Done Mike, I agree, it's the best I've seen in the forums.

Regarding a post about suitability of the SPC900NC....

I've had 2 goes at it, months ago with a spc900NC and 8" F7 Newt,
handtracked on GEM with my son rotating the dome :)

First go was all blurs.
2nd was detail, but not much.
See:
http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/astrosteve/ISS_20_apr_2008.wmv
(warning: large file)

Settings were guessed and the 2nd go seemed closer to the sweet spot.

Trevor: 800x ??
Only a 2x Barlow, are you getting confused with the 5x finder?

ISS is suprisingly quite large in even low power eyepieces,
you can easily resolve it into detail....capturing it is the hard part.

regards,
Steve B.

[madtuna]

got to tip my hat to that...very nice effort Mr Salway! :thumbsup:

[Inmykombi]

wow,
What a great photo and amazing detail.

Geoffro

[bird]

Excellent capture Mike, congrats!
Bird

[AlexN]

Stunning.... Appart from that, Im speechless.

[Jen]

:eyepop: thats a great pic Mike cheers :thumbsup:

[seeker372011]

wow!

thats an amazing result.

now dont forget to grab some images when the space shuttle services the Hubble next month

[Babalyon 5]

That is indeed very awesome, some of the best Ive seem.:)

[peeb61]

My jaw just won't close and I'm speechless.........

[WadeH]

Very nice job Mike. It must be no mean effort just to track a satellite let alone image it.

[Stargazer292]

That is WOW!!!

[cookie8]

Hey Mike. I used K3CCDTools version 1 (free) to control the 900nc. It won't allow me to use more than 15fps. What software did you use? I understand the 900nc is capable of up to 60fps but the software that came with it is pretty useless:(

[cookie8]

I figured out how to set frame rate to 30fps with K3CCDT1 now but should I be using 60fps or even 90fps to capture the ISS? Why 30?:screwy:

[TrevorW]

Awesome Mike now we really know it's up there !!!

[NQLD_Newby]

Excellent pics Mike. Can't believe the detail in that well done.

[iceman]

Thanks for your kind words, everyone. It's such an adrenalin rush trying to get everything to come together. But when you get a sharp image, it makes it worthwhile.

Don't get another opportunity for about 2 weeks! :(

Vincent, I guess you should use the fastest fps you can, but just practise in daylight first. My guess is that 90fps will compress the data enormously but it may still be ok for a small target when most of the frame is going to be black anyway.

[Striker]

Really impressive Mike,

It's a lot harder to image then people imagine great job.

[Kirkus]

Just wonderful, Mike! I'm obsessed with the ISS -- never miss a flyover. Your images are spectacular.

::

I'm curious, when using the moon for focus, do you go for a nice sharp focus or do you fudge a little one way or the other due to the difference in distance between it and the ISS?

[iceman]

Thanks Kirkus.

I wouldn't have thought there's any difference between focusing on the moon at 400,000km or the ISS at 400km - they should both be sufficiently far enough away that they'd focus at the same point.

I guess it could be tested with a star at 4 light years away and the moon at 400,000km away and see if there's any difference.

Good question though.

[pelu]

Simply :prey2:
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next week...

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Mike? Are you here? Mike?

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:ship2: